Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST Date: 13 Aug 20 - 06:55 AM I live on Blacksnake Road, so named because it has so many twists and turns and is a bit dangerous in some sections. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Starship Date: 25 Mar 20 - 11:41 AM "What is a muzo?" Musician. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Mike Date: 25 Mar 20 - 01:43 AM “Shot a coat of primer” to me means sprayed quickly a coat of primer. What is a muzo? |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,NUGE Date: 29 Oct 18 - 10:26 PM i think he looks inside the car to get one last look at the cop car that was always up his ass as a kid before he starts running shine in it. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 18 Sep 18 - 01:59 PM Dave M.: "The trouble is you guys are all muzos and not car people." "For what it's worth, I think... Whereas I think the 'trouble' may lie elsewhere... Removes back seat as "fire hazard." Replaces with glass jars of high-proof distilled spirits. Hmmmmmmm. fwiw: Pneumatic paint sprayer = air gun; paint gun. Ergo paint = shot. Hiding the door decal is required by the auction rules or done by the county before the sale and bootleggers don't add useless, dead weight primer on the inside. Or so I've been told anywho ;) |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Mark Bluemel Date: 18 Sep 18 - 08:58 AM I'm afraid I disagree Davie M. Nearly every set of lyrics I can find agree with my ears that it's "just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside". The interpretation of the dull paint job to give the car a "stealth" finish, and "looking inside" to get the most out of the engine, make most sense to me. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Davie M Date: 18 Sep 18 - 05:06 AM For what it's worth, I think the term comes from giving metal a quick spray of primer immediately after shot blasting just to stop it rusting until the proper finish can be applied. The car wouldn't have been shot blasted or anything but it just means that the inside had been stripped and then had a quick blow over with primer. No need to do anything more. Main requirement is a for a good running engine, so they strip it down and perk it up a bit. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Davie M Date: 18 Sep 18 - 05:01 AM The trouble is you guys are all muzos and not car people. The line is "Just a shot coat of primer when you looked inside." It means that the inside has been stripped out so that it can carry more and also to get rid of all the combustible upholstery. Then the inside has been tidied up with a quick spray of primer (a shot coat). |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: Greg F. Date: 13 Nov 17 - 06:35 PM Well Leeneie, check Here And Here Plenty more of them, and skunks, and rattlesnakes & all sorts of critters memorialized in road names..... |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: leeneia Date: 13 Nov 17 - 06:02 PM As a longtime Missouri resident, I am almost a southerner, and I just want to say that i don't believe anybody ever named a road for a copperhead. Do we name roads for skunks, mosquitoes or poison ivy? No, we don't. And whether we are northern or southern, we don't name them for poisonous snakes, either. The Missouri Department of Conservation says that nobody has ever died of a copperhead bite in Missouri. Of course they are to be avoided nonetheless. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 Nov 17 - 10:39 AM It does depend on who or what gets bit, as to whether a copperhead snake is "lethal." Treat its venom as deadly and leave it alone. It's found in a much larger range than the one mentioned above. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Steviebeef Date: 12 Nov 17 - 09:13 AM Copperhead is a snake, venomous, but not lethal, found on the east coast of the US to the Mississippi. Shot coat of primer is the car was sprayed with flat black primer and that was it, no color no clear coat. "Then looked inside"--means he evaluated the engine and what to do. Tore that enigine down, means actulay they rebuilt it--WAY outta spec LOL! Good tune. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,ripov Date: 11 Feb 17 - 03:37 PM I'm pretty sure that any signwriting on a vehicle would be obliterated BEFORE it was sent to auction. And as an aside "Copperhead" chimes nicely with the "Copper" (although it wasn't always made of that metal, especially when the brew was illict), or boiler, used for heating the mash to boil off the alcohol. The fiddling Doherty brothers were itinerant coppersmiths, who repaired "utensils" on Irish farms. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: robomatic Date: 10 Feb 17 - 03:42 PM Just watched the movie "American Honey" In an early scene the main character is trying to offload two little kids she's looking after so she can hit the road; she intercepts the kids' mother at a joint where they're line dancing to "Copperhead Road". It all fits. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 10 Feb 17 - 12:56 AM Isn't the Mudcat wonderful? Excepting, that I've been humming "She Caught the Katy" for three days now, not knowing why... The Bluesmobile |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: Roughyed Date: 09 Feb 17 - 09:09 AM I was amazed to see this thread again after I started it over 14 years ago. Thanks to everyone who has contributed over the years, your comments and experience have made a real difference to my understanding and appreciation of the whole song. Isn't the Mudcat wonderful? |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 08 Feb 17 - 07:29 PM Yeah. Late 1960's Dodge Polara 413. Would add a county mountie is not a townie. Daddy bought the pursuit package suspension, brakes &c that comes with. 15s/129mph in the quarter mile, from the factory. A coat of paint primer to hide the door decal on the outside and "looked inside" is not just under the hood. Throw out the back seat, door panels and other dead weight too. Good times. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST Date: 08 Feb 17 - 06:27 PM ahh brilliant! So "just shot a coat of primer" means they got rid of the Johnson County Sheriff writing and " looked inside" means they souped up the engine.. love it! brilliant!!! |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST Date: 05 Feb 17 - 07:38 AM Looked inside refers to looking at the engine. Souping it up to run faster. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: Bobert Date: 19 Nov 12 - 07:23 PM Great post, MpPar... I'm a gear-head, too... Not a MoPar guy... Ford guy... But, hey, good stuff... I never realized that the 383 was considered a big block... I thought it was a small block... Guess not... With Ford motors the 351 was both a small block and a big block... The Windsor was a small block and the Cleveland was a big block... Get's kinda confusing... B~ |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Mopar or NoCar Date: 19 Nov 12 - 03:44 PM Dodge first big block was 1958 the biggest Dodge engine before that would have been a 354 used in a truck. The "wedge" big blocks of the Mopar muscle car era started its production in 1958 with a B block 350 & 361 followed a year later by the B block 383 and the RB (raised block) 383 and 413. The RB block "wedge" 426 came out in 63 and RB 440 finally came out in 1966 along with the release of the RB "Hemi" 426. (*race only 426 Hemi's were being used in 64 and 65 but not released to the public til 66) The last of the big blocks to be released was the R block 400 in 1972. So if ol' John Lee Pettimore volunteered for the Army on his 18th birthday because they draft the white trash first anyway. Based on the way he says "They draft the white trash first,'round here anyway" says to me they had been drafting for a while so the U.S. involvment of the war had been going on for sometime and wan't new. So say it was 67 or 68 when he turned 18 and to be old enough to understand and remember his dad buying a squad car, shotting it in primer, rebuilding the engine and "still remember that rumblin' sound" I would say he would have to be 12 or 13 so it is more likely than not that his dad bought a squad car with a big BLOCK. I grew up in a car family and my pops ran a bodyshop. We used the terms shot or shooting for pain and primer as in "I shot the first coat of primer last night" or "I just finished shooting the first coat of primer". "he looked inside" followed by "Well him and my uncle tore that engine down" clearly means he looked under the hood to check the engine and then rebuilt it. My pops used to buy cars at city and county auctions and all cop cars, fire trucks and school busses I saw at auction always already had the logos painted over with black or gray primer. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST Date: 27 Jun 12 - 08:06 AM Too many people overthinking the line Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside the meaning of this line is contained in the next line Well him and my uncle tore that engine down. The car was brought as a Police car and wasthen painted in primer to cover the insignia and then the engine of the car was rebuilt for greater power. A classic Q Ship that is a plain car hiding a very powerful motor |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: gnu Date: 08 Jun 12 - 03:24 PM Got a link? |
Subject: copperhead road was based on what movie From: GUEST,guest Date: 08 Jun 12 - 02:43 PM what movie was playing in the background of the song copperhead road |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Sandyant Date: 12 Apr 12 - 05:17 PM Top song. Do/did panel beaters and spray painters use a term "shoot a cop" To describe shooting a Coat Of Primer. ie C O P. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST Date: 08 Apr 12 - 03:52 PM umm...you geeks, "looked inside" refers to the engine/engine compartment!!! |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: Joe Offer Date: 11 Jan 12 - 09:06 PM For the record, songfile.com lists the songwriter of Copperhead Road as Steve Earle, so I added title and songwriter attribution to the lyrics posted by gnu. -Joe- |
Subject: Lyr Add: COPPERHEAD ROAD (Steve Earle) From: gnu Date: 11 Jan 12 - 08:51 PM Has this been posted before? COPPERHEAD ROAD (Steve Earle) As recorded by Steve Earle on "Copperhead Road" (1988) Well my name's John Lee Pettimore Same as my daddy and his daddy before You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here He only came to town about twice a year He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line Everybody knew that he made moonshine Now the revenue man wanted Grandaddy bad He headed up the holler with everything he had It's before my time but I've been told He never came back from Copperhead Road Now Daddy ran the whiskey in a big block Dodge Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside Well him and my uncle tore that engine down I still remember that rumblin' sound Well the sheriff came around in the middle of the night Heard mama cryin', knew something wasn't right He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road I volunteered for the Army on my birthday They draft the white trash first, 'round here anyway I done two tours of duty in Vietnam I came home with a brand new plan I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico I plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road Well the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air I wake up screaming like I'm back over there I learned a thing or two from Charlie don't you know You better stay away from Copperhead Road |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: Bobert Date: 11 Jan 12 - 08:05 PM Well, I bought a twas-a-fuzz "big block dodge"... It was a '74 model... And I bought it at a county auction... Back then they would take a spray can of black primer and paint over the insignia/decal on the front doors... I knew it had a "big block" V-8 (440 cu inches)... I didn't need to see that but if you have ever been to a car auction you'll see folks looking inside the car at the interior... People are looking to see if the air conditioner is working or if there is stuff missing or the overall condition of the seat covers, carpet, etc... It's part of buying a car... So I think, in spite of having performed the song for years as "big black Dodge" that it is indeed "big block Dodge", and coat of primer over the insignia and looked at the interior... B~ |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST Date: 11 Jan 12 - 07:23 PM Texan's responses feel right to me, so Im going w his explanation, plus Steve ain't ashamed to be from Texas either |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: gnu Date: 11 Jan 12 - 02:06 PM Primer is also used up country so that a vehicle is less visible in moonlight. Everything is primed except windows and lights (crossing main roads is always done with the side windows down). Taillights power wiring is cut and connectors installed. Powerful lights on a rooftop lightbar are mounted facing mostly backwards. Side mirrors removed. Gastanks are "modified" (trucks with dual tanks). And, of course, the chainsaw is fueled and starts first pull. The waterproof GMRS have fresh batteries (these guys never go swimmin alone, eh, on accounta "safety first, eh). Speakin a saftey... I stay away from them guys. Great guys to drink with but too rough around the edges fer me. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: moecurlythanu Date: 11 Jan 12 - 12:52 PM It clearly says "big block Dodge." I've been listening to this song since it came out, and never once heard it as "big black." Might I recommend some wax remover? ;-) |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Texan til I die Date: 10 Jan 12 - 02:34 PM Back then all police cars were "black". Look inside does definitely mean to look under the hood. You didn't look under the hood at the auction. You bought em' cheap and "asis". Looking under the hood meant you didn't know what you were doin at an auction. Everybody knew who the shiners were and veteran shiner would nevr look under the hood. Cops would note who would look under the hood as a newbie and that's how first arrests were made. As for the line "shot a coat of primer" - Shiners used primer for one reason. It's not shiny. Black primer doesn't reflect light and when you're getin' run down by the sheriff you get away as fast as you can, raise as much dust as you can skid out off a side road, ditch yer lights and let the sheriff roll right by you. If the sheriff realizes he's passed you up he'll come back shining his searchlight both ways looking for the first shiny reflection to nail you. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: Lonesome EJ Date: 09 Jan 12 - 12:20 AM Sounds like he says "big black Dodge" to me, but what the hell do I know. "Shot a coat of primer" just shows they didn't give a damn about how it looked. "Looked inside" shows the equal disdain they had for the interior of the car. Don't think it's a way of saying they were looking under the hood...if it was the local Sheriff's car, they already knew what they were getting. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: Bobert Date: 08 Jan 12 - 11:03 PM I donno??? Steve had already said that he'd bought a "big block dodge" so why would he be surprised to find that it was a "big block"??? I don't think so... I think he "looked inside" the car itself to checkout the interior... Maybe to figure out how to stash the shine tanks??? B~ |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST Date: 08 Jan 12 - 09:25 PM It is "big block Dodge". They "shot a coat of primer" to hide the Johnson County Sheriff logo because then it wouldn't be a far step from that to figure out who bought the car. And they "looked inside" the hood and were pleasantly surprised to find a big block Dodge engine which had just started production in the late 50s. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: Bobert Date: 03 Oct 11 - 05:36 PM Good point, GUEST, guest... You oughtta be on the sequel to "My Cousin Vinny"... B~ |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,guest Date: 03 Oct 11 - 05:02 PM It has to be a big black dodge, because dodge didn't come out with a big block motor unti ( I think) the 413 in 1963. So daddy had a small block of sometype, maybe a small hemi. Only the third pettimore could have bought a big block dodge at a police auction. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST Date: 17 May 11 - 06:30 PM I was somehow logged off. The above Guest was me Jayto. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST Date: 17 May 11 - 12:47 PM I have had time to read through most of the comments. "Then he looked inside" just means he looked under the hood of the car. The next line is about the engine. That is another common phrase in the US Southeast. It just means to look inside the hood of the car to look at the motor. Basically he bought the car and then after coating it in primer he took a look inside the motor compartment (or under the hood) to start juicing up the engine. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Patsy Date: 17 May 11 - 08:14 AM Thanks a lot I used to play this over and over, now I know what I have been dancing to. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: Jayto Date: 16 May 11 - 08:30 AM Now Daddy ran whisky in a big black Dodge Bought it at an auction at the Masons Lodge Johnson County sheriff painted on the side Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside.' Around my area the term "shot" is really common. It is used whenever anything is thrown, pitched or covered with something. It is used in a bunch of different ways. So I always took it as he coated the car with primer. I am in Western KY and it is a pretty common saying around here. I have to admit I am reading this in a rush. Am I correct that the word in question is "shot"? |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Don in NC Date: 15 May 11 - 03:30 PM You are correct, shot a coat of primer is just covering up the Johnson's County Sheriff logo on the door of the car. Primer is a base coat that goes on prior to laying the actual color coat. It is used as a sanding coat to smooth out the imperfections before the shiny goes on. It is cheap, flat in color, and easy to spray on. Looking inside is seeing what is under the hood to see what you have to work with from a power perspective. Steve Earle and I are both within a few years of the sane age. Law enforcement agencies in the late 50's and 60's used Dodge and Plymouth cars because they were so big and powerful. They even spent their own money on their patrol cars to try and get them to the point so they could keep up with the ne'er do wells. I was one of the the ne'er do wells. I did not haul liquor, but I have raced and outran many of them. My grandfather did not make it, but he gave others free ride on his property to make it. He had good land, plenty of natural springs, and plenty of natural cover. He even had corn to sell if the time and price was right. I am replying to a string that is about four years old. I just ran across something that interested me. I hope someone sees it. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Guest, KaraokeSC Date: 10 Oct 10 - 03:03 PM There are two separate actions here. "Shot a coat of primer," and "looked inside." Of course the primer is to change the apearance of the outside of the car - make it plain and inconspicous. As a hot-rodding mechanic will say, "Looked inside" is the next critical step for the car - looking inside the engine compartment - this is confirmed by the next line: "him and my uncle tore that engine down." |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: mkebenn Date: 09 Jun 10 - 04:50 PM Bobert, I believe "looked inside" is poppin' the hood to check the mill. And Open Mike, a copperhead can't be related to a water moccasin and a cottonmouth, 'cause they're the same critter. They are pit vipers like all the rattlesnakes, though. Mike |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Whistle Stop Date: 09 Jun 10 - 01:57 PM I used to be a member here, just decided to drop by and see what's going on. Big Steve Earle fan. Those of us with roots in the southern (or mid-southern) US might have an easier time than Brits at interpreting American slang. I agree that it was a "shot coat of primer" (a single coat from a spray gun; quick and easy, doesn't have to be pretty), and then he "looked inside" to rebuild the engine, and maybe also to take out the seats for more carrying capacity (you don't need the room for passengers, you need it for cargo). The context makes it seem pretty obvious to me. As for "copperhead," yes, it's a poisonous snake, but it's also something else. In the American Civil War, which still informs a lot of our American mythology, antiwar Northerners who advocated that the South be allowed to secede were called Copperheads. Most of them lived in or near border areas, like West Virginia and Kentucky, where sympathies were mixed, and which also happen to be areas where moonshining (distilling illegal liquor) was big. Copperheads were ostracized by other northerners, which added to their already strong sense of isolation and lawlessness. I always figured that Steve was using the name "Copperhead Road" to strengthen the Appalachian links in the story and underscore the suggestion that this was outlaw territory. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: Bobert Date: 08 Jun 10 - 09:53 PM So, Robin... What do you think about the line "looked in side"??? I been doing the song since, well, forever and I always sing "loaded inside"??? But I did know about the "shot of coat of primer" 'casue when they sell these cars at auctions they have sherriff decals on 'um..., I also sing "big black dodge: cause alot of cop cars were black but I now believe it to be "big block dodge" 'cause it's been a long time since cop cars were black... I actaully did buy a "twuz-a-fzz" '74 Dodge and it was blue... Had a big ol' 440 engine... Wouldn't win no drag races but top out at a buck forty... B~ |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Robin Date: 08 Jun 10 - 01:26 AM Sharon's explanation is the one and it's big block Dodge. This song could be my dad's life. He's gone now, so I can tell it. He ran whiskey to upper East Tenn. from Knoxville in the 1980s (dry counties in Ky. & no liquor in our part of Tn.). That's after he built and raced Mopars for years. Shot a coat of primer (like with a spray gun) was enough to cover the sheriff logo like somebody said. The car was for practical purposes -- outrunnin' the law. And cars don't run on moonshine. I'm not a musician but the lyrics/diction, choice of bagpipes and ghostly echo embody such a life. I cannot hear it without weeping. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: GUEST,Damn Yankee Pete Date: 10 May 10 - 12:11 AM Big Black Dodge!! or Big Block Dodge!! I love it either way. I spent 15 years (I'm only 29, first heard this song at 8!) building and painting derby cars for various fellers. One guy I had worked with, nothing but Chrysler's, Dodge's. pretty much the strongest cars I ever saw, run them 2 times a night, bring 'em back 2 nights later for the 2nd day, run them 2 more times, and maybe the following year. I want that big black 69 Coronet late in the video....best looking car ever. |
Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line From: jeffp Date: 23 Apr 10 - 10:44 AM It's no surprise that the first stock car drivers were former moonshine runners. |
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